I've actually never left a review of any sort for a dead show on archives. I did not start seeing the dead until I was 16 in 89 in Charlotte and I feel like people do a great job breaking down these performances but I have a bone to pick. These negative reviews get under my skin in the fact that nobody mentions in less than 5 months after this Jerry was in a coma and almost died. The fact the band and Jerry himself was even on a functional level is a miracle. And to be able to even attempt such a complicated wide open musical catalog in such a weakened state is a truly incredible achievement! I'm no apologist; there's been some rough performances over time due to wear and tear, drug use, etc but Damn, give them a break when a break is deserved! Lol sorry for my first post being fussy!

The Box covered a lot of stuff. I remember a great night before, during and after

From start to finish this is a great show, 2nd night in Hampton for the start of Spring Tour. Lot's of energy, great playing and awesome song selection. Box of Rain is memorable and the Estimated Prophet is one of the best. I think this recording is from the FOB Schoeps that I had back in the day and helped record. Enjoy.

Delete post

Half lame and half good, like a lot of shows from '86. It's not a soundboard tape either. Get it for Box of Rain (which at the beginning is almost inaudible due to the screaming), the other songs are nothing special and in some cases pretty bad.

The first set is one of the most lackluster I've encountered. I really really don't like the enervated version of Friend Of The Devil, likewise the sleep inducing version of Row Jimmy. A phoned in Me And My Uncle and a fair Mexicali Blues do nothing to raise the energy. Jerry flubs the lyrics to Althea, leaving Box of Rain the only thing in the first set that is worth a listen and only then because of its novelty. The second set is better but rarely rises above mediocre.

The band sound tired and the playing is pretty sloppy. This show is not worth downloading or streaming unless you were there.

I am amazed that no one comments on this Estimated. My college roommate (What up Matt-O) and I spent most of our Freshman year plowing through hour after hour of tapes looking for our favorite Estimated. While it is always tough to do and we never agreed on what was #1 this Estimated was in the top 5 for both of us. Bobby goes off! Combined with the sick delays Healy was throwing in this goes down as one of the great Bobby freak outs. If your a Bobby fan and a good Bobby meltdown sends chills up your spine, you have to check this one out. The Box bust out was sweet but the energy of this show is in the Estimated.

I gave the night before 4 big ones because I think that was a very good show. This one is brutal. Much like the spectrum show in 95 where UC was busted out, the high rating for this show is based on the first appearance of Box. Great moment and download for historical purposes because it is powerful, but objectively, this show is weak to put it mildly.

A carnival in cold, rainy Hampton in March? Doubt it.

"Box" is awesome (worth an extra star by itself), everything else is a throwaway...not often you'd say that about a Hampton show but that's the story here.

BTW, this is no "matrix".

Anybody remember if there was a carnival happening the same time next to the coliseum?

As the first set wound down with an absolutely horrible rendition of "Althea", a couple in our party, attending their first show since 1981, were dejected enough that they were seriously debating whether they were going to stay for the second set or head on down to the beach. I didn't think the proceedings were going badly enough to warrant an early exit (of course I stayed through many a sorry second set; I never saw the point in leaving early even on the bad nights), but things weren't going well for the boys up until the "Box" breakout, which they nailed. It's probably hard for people who started attending shows after 1986 to appreciate just how big a deal this was- the place just exploded (the response was more electric than the reaction to "Dark Star" in the same venue 3 years later). That seemed to give the band enough momentum to coast through an improved, though hardly stellar, second set (decent "Iko" and "Estimated", warp-speed "Eyes" common to the era, and a train-wreck version of "Throwing Stones", which even back in the spring of 1986 was starting to wear thin with a lot of folks).

The reviewer who said this was a "one song show" was dead on. It's all about the "Box". The rest is forgettable.

Five stars for "Box of Rain", two for everything else.

Also, this is an audience recording, not a matrix.

Dude, that is FAR too much personal info for a review . No one wants to read about who or what you did after the show.

Speaking of the show, it's funny- the first set started out okay but slid quickly downhill to possibly the worst-ever version of "Althea", which was essentially performed as an instrumental due to Jerry's lyrical lapses. Then came "Box", which in 1986 was pretty much beyond all hope as a breakout. Loudest single reaction I ever heard from a Dead crowd (and yes I was at both 9/3/88 and 10/9/89). Needless to say, it was quite a moment.

The second set was hurried and sloppy overall, though not as bad as the first set. It did feature the typical sped-up "Throwing Stones>NFA" closer with the "Thanks for coming, we're outta here" vibe common to a lot of shows from the mid 80s 'til the end but at that point no one really cared. This was, essentially, a one-song show.

Note: This most certainly is NOT a matrix or soundboard source. It's a fairly typical 1980s audience recording, nothing more, nothing less.

If you went to this show with me (you called Box of Rain, we made love at my parents condo in Va Beach, we might have gotten married?)Feel free to contact me riptrees@optonline.net, I will marry you now!

I was the first person in Hampton Colliseum this night. As a matter of fact, I still have the unripped ticket. Since I ran past the guard, when they let the tapper line in. I was online at 10:00 am and the guard at the door said "the piano player said you guys are in for a real treat tonight." Well they did break out Box of Rain. I know this recording is from his rig. AKG 460 B's into a Modified D5. I'm 100% sure. We were first row behind the board with mic's at 90degrees about 6 feet in the air! This tape is excellent. Get it.

Sound sucks,show is crappy.......must have for the Box of Rain breakout........Really good Box Too.This is NOT a soundboard..also....only time i have ever heard Phil say "we'll be right back"in stead of Bob(after box)

I had to add to the comment another person put into a review. Before these shows I was sitting around with friends during the preshow psych-up talking about what we all wanted to hear. Its funny that we all wanted to hear all the common rarities like Dark Star, etc., but I said wouldn't it be funny to hear something like Box of Rain and damn if they didn't play it. The show had quite a few flaws but the box was worth it.

Box of Rain was phenomenal, perhaps the highest I ever saw a crowd get for one song. Standing on the seats cheering for an encore during the whole set break. Every line of the song gets a crowd roar...this was when Phil figured out that he has amazing powers to turn the crowd on its head.

Man the rest of this show stank!

Bobby says "now we're gonna prove that practice makes pefect" before Box of Rain because it was the first time they busted it out since 73...

Hampton will always hold a special place in my heart. I lived in Norfolk for 4 years so Hampton was in my back yard. This show was memorable for a number of reasons.

This was my buddy's first show. Before the show he said, "All I want to hear is box of rain." And we all had a good laugh. WHO KNEW?

This is NOT a matrix or sbd of any kind.
cm

Since this was my first show I have to kick in my two cents.

I remember driving down to Hampton with two friends that had been to a couple of shows before. I, having never been, was curious but thought it was going to be lame. I was still in high school as a senior and was really into bands like the Eagles, and Riot. The friends who I was riding to Hampton with had to talk me into going. They were popping bootlegs into the car stereo and playing them LOUD. I kept trying to push my Eagles tape (it was the double live album with guest Joe Walsh!) and I think they even popped it in for about two songs and then couldn't take it anymore.

Anyway, when we got to the lot the two guys I was with jumped out of the car with a "gonna go walk around be back in a bit" and away they went.

I was in the back seat and beginning to take notice of my surroundings. There were freaks with long hair, guys wearing skirts, and people selling things all over the place. I had never expected this. And here I was, all alone (at least I thought at the time), a stranger in a very strange land.

The guys came back and coaxed me out of the car. We finally went into the show to catch this beauty. I had a blast, not knowing any of the songs (actually that's not entirely true...I knew All Over Now because Molly Hatchet did a version); I didn't realize the significance of the Box of Rain but knew the crowd sure was enjoying it. I got caught up in the euphoria anyway.

Rainbows full of sound later I and my two friends were left with our heads blown sitting in the first level seats pounding out the beat to a song I later learned was Not Fade Away on the base of a chair. The acoustics inside that place reverberated my "rhythm devils" through out the building with many a cheer from my fellow straggling freaks.

I bought a t-shirt out in the parking lot. My first tie-die and I wore it proudly at my high school for the rest of the school year. Of course we HAD to get tickets for the next night (which is a whole other story) and the two shows launched me into a world of fireworks, calliopes, and clowns. And the old man never was the same again.

I got engaged at this show. The first set was good until Jerry butchered Althea. He forgot almost all the words. This is why Bob says "now we'll show you that practice makes perfect" before Box of Rain. The second set was solid and well played. I will always remember this as one of the two loudest crowds I have been in.(the other being the encore of 9-3-88, Ripple).

ok, 86 is not 76 or 66, but the air was charged in the coliseum this night. i was still somewhat of a newbie, but hey, even i GOT IT when phil busted out that box of rain. the jubiliation was such that my sister and i floated through the aisles that evening, cheshire grins. previous aud copies i had were atrocious: the matrix is tops. it's got it all for atmosphere AND crispy quality. too bad the next night's second set is missing.